Soul Summoner Series: The Siren

The Siren is the second book in the Soul Summoner series, written by Elicia Hyder.

This book continues the story of Sloan Jordan, Warren Parish and Detective Nathan McNamara.

What if on the journey to find out who you are, you get more than you bargained for? This is exactly the premise of the second book. Sloan, Warren and Nathan head to Texas to find a woman named Rachel Smith. She was on the list of victims of the deadly serial killer caught in book 1. Sloan and Warren were sure that she was indeed a victim until the FBI shows a recent photo of her alive and well. This is where the adventure begins!

In this story we also learn that Sloan and Warren still aren’t sure what they are. Are they simply human beings with extraordinary abilities or are they something more? On their quest to find Rachel Smith, they get the answers they seek and so much more!

Disclaimer: I review and discuss the book more thoroughly beyond this point. Book spoilers may happen! So, if you don’t want to be spoiled, skip down to the rating!

As you know, I liked the first book enough to finish it but found it to be more fluff than anything. In that book, the focus was more on the romance and love-triangle than the serial killer story. The serial killer storyline was simply a plot device meant to show Sloan’s abilities, except it kind of didn’t.

Regarding the faux-love triangle in the first book: I didn’t like the insta-attraction between Sloan and Warren because it ruined the chances of romance for Sloan and Nathan (he got there first, yo!). Also, I like a slow-burn romance and though it seemed that was happening between Sloan and Nathan, Warren came in and ruined it with the Made-for-Each-Other trope.

Onward to the second book!

The second book in the Soul Summoner series was just as easy to slide into as the first. Elicia Hyder is a good storyteller! Now familiar with the characters, I knew what to expect.

Romance aside, the story was pretty good overall! I found more to love this time!

The Good:

Sloan and Warren find out what they are. I sort of saw it coming but the reveal was pretty great nonetheless

Sloan finds her birth mom! This was good because the author used this as an opportunity to present a twist. Also, we don’t know yet who her father is (though I have some ideas). I expect that reveal in later books

Great battle scene at the end

Shannon’s character was given more to do! Come to find out the girl can shoot!

The focus was mainly on the mystery (or mysteries rather). Since the romance is probably my least favorite thing about this series, I was pretty happy about that

Emotional moments. There is a big moment in the book where we see Sloan struggle with some recent events and realities.

Moments of enlightenment toward the end where the love triangle is concerned. Possible chance for Nathan?

The Bad:

There is a reveal at the end that kind of puts a nail in the love triangle coffin.

Shannon. She is actually kind of awesome but still only used as a plot device. We get some redemption and resolution for Shannon’s character but it still leaves me wondering why she is even in book 2 of the series. I had hoped that Shannon would officially be part of the gang after the trip to Texas but it seems she is more of an annoyance to them than anything. She can shoot but the author didn’t put that factoid to good use at all.

Adrienne is also a plot device. Sloan’s best friend only really shows up for emotional moments when Sloan needs someone. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it reminds us that Sloan has friends outside of her two love interests but Adrienne is seriously under-utilized.

Sloan’s connection to her mom (not birth mom). Sloan is pretty busy in both books so in a way it is understandable that maybe the author wouldn’t have time to build that relationship. We get more tell and less show where Sloan and her mom are concerned. Comparatively, we have more connection to Sloan’s dad as the connection is built more organically and we see it in both books. There is a huge emotional moment for Sloan regarding her mom (not birth mom) and at times it felt like maybe I was projecting a bit as to how I would feel if that happened to me. So, I guess I wanted the connection between Sloan and her mom to be more organic before pulling the rug out from underneath the readers.

Overall, The Siren by Elicia Hyder was pretty good! One of the reasons that I love diving into a book series is so that I can connect with the characters and the stories on a deeper level. Picking up the second or third book in a series is like having a warm cup of coffee and a great conversation with an old friend.

Even though I liked book 2 much better than book 1, I have to give a similar rating. Hyder is a good writer and has managed to suck me into both books with her storytelling. However, there are moments in the story where I wish she went a little deeper. If I need to get used to the fact that Warren is end-game, then I want to see why. Even though I came away from this book with a much clearer picture of Warren as a character, i’m still not sold on him being the last man standing. Also, I want more than surface characterization where Sloan is concerned.

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